A Wonderful Fall Day of Riding

Camp Moses is beautiful!

I rode with Tammy, from Horsetrailriders.com.

We had a perfect ride. I rode Shaggy and she rode Windy.

I decided to take Shaggy because I have missed riding a trotting horse. I knew Tammy would want to trot, and trot fast, and lope. And Shaggy would give me that type of ride. Thanks, tv, for the wonderful 3 hour ride. I told Tom you were risky to ride with though, as I came back with 1 bruise and 2 long scratches! LOL

Shaggy did absolutely beautiful for his first trail ride. Even though he is 7, he sat on the back burner, and remained a quiet, confident gelding. Nothing seems to bother him, and I am enjoying the ride that he is giving me. I gave him today off.



I did get a ride in the fields today. Over 6 miles on Savannah. I rode her up and down the terraces about a dozen times. Here in eastern Nebraska, that's my version of preparing for riding hills. Then we hit the harvested corn and bean fields.



I took the time to stop and enjoy the scenery. Trees are just starting to change. Today was a warm, 74 degree day. The Nebraska wind was blowing though.

Then I did something that I have been wanting to do for a while. I haven't ridden my stud, Duke, in a long time. He stood wonderfully while I groomed, saddled and bridled him. I lunged him in the round pen for a few minutes, and was surprise that he had a few bucks in him. Granted, it's been awhile, but he has never bucked, and it was good to see that they were only half-hearted bucks. I took him to the outside arena, and lunged him for about 15 more minutes, waiting until he was going around quiet.



Tom had to work, and I called him to see when he was coming home and told him I was going to work Duke. I thought it would be a good idea for someone to know! :-)))



Duke stood quiet at the mounting block, and it was like we were back in show mode. Oh my goodness, now I remember why I have always loved riding him and now I remember why I want to keep riding him. His lope is awesome. Powerful and deep, and a joy to ride. He stops on a dime. He moves wonderfully off my legs. I just love riding a horse I trained. It seems that no matter how long it has been, we, the horse and I, always remember. I can't wait to ride Duke tomorrow. He makes me want to go out to ride! It has been awhile since I have been this excited, and Duke makes me excited to ride him. That is a good feeling. I guess today has been my best ride this year.



I thought Tom would get home before I was done, and I rode for an hour, but he got home after I was unsaddled. I'm hoping to ride tomorrow, and I want him to take pics!



I know... things happen for a reason. I have been wanting to ride Duke for a long time. 3 years ago, I was going to geld him and ride him. But I decided to breed and have babies. Then this year I thought about riding him, but decided to breed again. But now, I really want to geld him, and ride him. He is an absolute joy to ride. I understand him. I know what makes him tick. He can get mad when he is pushed the wrong way, and I understand that. I don’t want him to be mad, I want him to enjoy the ride. As much or as more as I did. Maybe now is the time.



My camera takes video, and I hope to get that on the blog tomorrow. And I will take pics. He is a handsome guy!

Parents 65th Wedding Anniversary

My parents were married October 15, 1945. 65 years ago today.

Last weekend, Tom and I flew to PA for a surprised Anniversary Party. Dad knew about the party but didn’t want to tell mom (pronounced mum. Remember, I’m from western PA).

Mom is going through some dementia, and we are sure she is in early stages of Alzheimer’s. She will not be tested, as she thinks they will tell her that she isn’t right in her head. I understand. She knows that she doesn’t remember everything that she does during the day, and she is fine with that. I’m glad, even though I don’t understand how she isn’t upset that she doesn’t remember. But I’m very glad that she isn’t upset and she seems fine with how she is. She also has Scleroderma, which has arthritic symptoms, giving her poor circulation, which affects her hands and feet and makes them very cold.



Dad has some health issues, even though he is still very healthy. Like all older men, he has had his share of Prostrate issues, and is on medicine for that. Like a lot of older people, he has cataracts. He had one removed about 2 weeks ago, and had a bad side effect that has caused him to have no vision in that eye. The prostrate medicine can cause side effects during cataract surgery. Dad’s eye went through a lot of movement towards the end of the surgery, causing the eye to fill with blood. The blood was drained a few days later, but there is still no vision. We are hoping that within a month or 2, the vision returns. Dad needs the cataract on the other eye removed. He is understandably very nervous to have that surgery!

Many couples don’t see this Anniversary milestone. We are glad that our parents have stayed fairly well and are happily married.


Enjoy the family pics!

Happy 65th Anniversary, Mom and Dad. We love you.

 

Perfect Weather

October 14, 2010



These past 3 weeks have been gorgeous. 70 to 80’s. Sunny days with a light breeze.



Last month, as I rode in the arenas, I was feeling claustrophobic. In the outdoors. How is that possible?



Because I was bored. I needed to accomplish more with my riding and with my horses. I needed to add miles, not circles. I needed to be able to move out in a straight line instead of riding in circles, reverses, and crisscrossing the arena.



I could have been going down the road, but I really don’t like to do that. 2 reasons. Mainly for safety. I think traffic is too fast. But I also don’t like road riding for the well being of my horse and his/her legs. I think the hard packed road has little give for long trotting. If you can ride the soft shoulders, than it is better on their legs.



Finally, crops were harvested and I have been in the fields since. With only flat land here, I have to take advantage of the terraces to do hill work! Isn’t that just pathetic? Lol But when I put the horses up and down those terraces a few times, they start huffing, so at least it’s getting their heart pumping. The steeper terraces also teach the horses to walk slower down the hills.



I just love the top of the terraces. With just rolling hills here, and they are barely rolling, I still have a sense of being on top of the world. I just love trotting and loping those fields.



I hope to get pictures posted soon. But later today, I am riding with my friend, Tammy, from horsetrailriders.com. One of my favorite places to ride is Camp Moses Merrill. Located about 35 miles northwest of me, it has rolling hills, steep hills, and TREES! With the changing colors, today’s ride should be beautiful!

One Year Later, “The Change”

One year has already passed since I lost Finny. Everyone said, “Give it time.”

I don’t know how I feel about this any more. Some days I feel empty to any feelings. Some days, I can still cry. A few friends emailed me this week to see if I needed to talk, but that is one thing I can’t do this week. I do know that I can’t talk about Finny. Not this week.

I’ve realized many things over the last year. It was ok to be sad for a very long time. It’s ok to continue to be sad. It was ok to be angry, guilty, depressed, lonely. Those feelings have subsided and have been replaced with an acceptance and an emptiness.

It was also ok to move on. Enjoy another horse. Go back to trail riding and competing. It was ok to continue on with what I love. And it was ok not to feel guilty.

That was the hardest thing to accomplish this year. The guilt hung on like a splinter under the nail. It would throb and hurt some days. I wouldn’t feel it for a few days. Then I would do something and hurt the nail again, and the pain would be awful. More awful than it had been before. But eventually, the splinter is gone, so was the guilt.

A peace is settling into me. I didn’t feel it until today (the 9th), the day before the anniversary date that I probably will never forget. The peace might be coming from the fact that I’m driving through the Pennsylvania hills, back home for my parent’s 65th Anniversary party. As I look out the car windows, and see the changing colors, I feel a change in me. Just as the seasons come and go, and just as the trees change into majestic colors, the colors deepen into a brown, die, and fall off the trees. There is always the hope, no, more than hope, there is the reality that there will be color again.

Some things are always there. The trees are always here. The fall colors in western PA are always here. Always breathtaking beautiful. There is always a change.

There will always be horses. There will always be death. There will always be a breathtaking beautiful horse. There will always be a change.

In the last year, I have come to accept that. I don’t like death. No one does. But now I can look forward to the change. I can start to feel the change that Finny had in my life. He has made me see that every horse is special.

Just like the leaves are becoming more colorful as I travel north, so are the changes in my soul changing. I love these hills. I love what the hills do for me. I love horses. I love what horses do for me.

I just told my husband, Tom, that even though we have seen these hills and changing colors for our first 22 years that we lived here and went to college, and then for the next 6 years while we lived in PA and Michigan, it seems like we have never seen these colors before. They are so bright. I am struck by this beautiful scenery.

Having Finny in my life feels like that. I feel like I didn’t have a special horse in my life. I just rode. Then, as I look around me, now I see all the special horses. Now, I remember the fall colors that I grew up in, and now I see the beauty that was inside Finny.

Thank you, God, for my time with Finny. Thank you for putting him in my life. One of the saddest poems I read a year ago, was that You needed my horse for the angels to ride. I cried so hard when I read that. Now that thought brings a smile to my face. Finny has the life that he deserves. He has the kindest riders riding him now. And he is looking down at me while I’m driving through these beautiful hills, sharing the color and beauty of the day with me.

Until I can ride you in Heaven, my Friend. I will always love you, your gorgeous black coat and face with the large white blaze, your fabulous lope, your heart.

I’m home and now, in my heart, I know that you are too. Have a fantastic run today among the clouds. I hope you think about me as much as I think about you.

Corn is Harvested

Corn is harvested off the fields! That means I can ride in the fields. Now the beans are off, and I can enjoy some nice places to trot out and to lope.



I have been waiting for this to happen for a month now. When I rode the fields the other day, I could smell the freshly cut scent of corn. It smelled so good.



Today was a very warm day. The last 2 weeks have been days full of sun. No rain. Sunny with a slight wind. I needed to feel the warmth of the sun on my face. Nothing is better for the soul than feeling a good horse underneath you and the sun warming your back.



I’m riding 4 horses. 3 of my own and 1 training horse. And I’m getting a 2 year old ready to ride. The training horse is ready to be ridden outside the arena and have hour long rides in the fields. He has had a month of desensitizing and slow arena work to build up his confidence. He has had 2 short rides in the bean field behind the barn. Now he is ready to go further.



My 3 horses are all so different from each other. Savannah is the gaited TWH (Tennessee Walking Horse). She is only 4, but I’m getting tired of her looking for things to jump at. I am building up her confidence with as many short and long trails rides as I can. I try to ride with other horses also.



Shaggy has had his first couple of rides to the field. I just love riding him. He is 7, but he was on the back burner for 5 years. That is turning out to be ok, as he is a confident, gentle horse. He He isn’t scared of anything, and when he is hesitant about crossing a ditch, he has a lot of try. He eventually sticks with it, and crosses what he is hesitant about, and generally without jumping the obstacle. He perks his ears and trots out.



Dixie is the 16 year old mare that I bought in May as a replacement lesson horse. One of my lesson horses is in foal, and that only left me 1 good horse. I wasn’t sure if Dixie was going to work out as she has a very fast trot and lope, or should I say canter. But the more I ride her, the more I like her. She loves the fields, too. I was discouraged with how Savannah was always looking to goose, and the day before the Peter Campbell clinic, I took Dixie to the field. I enjoyed the moment I got on her to the moment I got off her. She made me realize why I love riding the fields at the trot and the lope.



I love the outdoors. When I think it’s too much work, I just need to get on a horse and ride the fields and CRP land. I need to sit on top of the rise and feel the warm sun and gentle breeze. Some days, the wind isn’t so gently, but brisk and cold, but that is ok. It is exhilarating if you let it be. Riding can be that way too. IF you just let it be. No matter what is going on in your life, or with you, just go ride. Let everything else disappear, if only for a short time, and ride the ride.



“Embrace the Journey!”